Effects of Replacing Soy-oil with Soy-lecithin on Growth Performance, Nutrient Utilization and Serum Parameters of Broilers Fed Corn-based Diets

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the effects of different soy-oil and soy-lecithin levels on growth performance, nutrient utilization and serum parameters in broiler chickens. Two hundred and forty 1-day-old Arbor Acres chicks were randomly divided into 4 groups and treated as follows: basal diet with 2% soy-oil (SO); soy-oil and soy-lecithin mixture in proportion of 75/25 (SOL1), 50/50 (SOL2) and 2% lecithin (SL). At the end of the trial (42 d), birds in SOLI group grew faster (p<0.05) and had better feed conversion efficiency (p<0.05) than other groups while SL group had the lowest performance (p<0.05). The utilization of ether extract was improved in SOLI group (p<0.05) but apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and utilization of other nutrients decreased in SOL2 and SL group from 19 to 21 d. No significant effects were observed in apparent metabolizable energy, dry matter, crude protein and ether extract but the utilization of calcium and phosphorus was significantly improved in SL group (p<0.05) during 39 to 42 d. The birds fed with lecithin had lower serum total cholesterol and triglyceride than the control group (SO). Broilers fed with 2% lecithin (SL) had the highest insulin level (p<0.05). The results implied that soy-lecithin and soy-oil in a proportion of 25:75 had the highest growth performance and that soy-lecithin had cholesterol lowering capacity.